Before leaving office, Trump made another attempt to cut funding for development aid

Despite unprecedented levels of hunger and poverty worldwide, Donald Trump, the former US President, delivered a package of proposals to Congress that aimed to cut US foreign aid spending including funding for the GAVI initiative which is responsible for delivering the COVID-19 vaccine to developing countries.

In a last-minute initiative at the White House, Congress was asked to cut US$27 billion funding that was mostly intended to finance development aid programs of which $4 billion was to be given to GAVI. The proposal was part of Trump’s ‘America First’ policy that was created to focus on domestic issues and needs, disregarding situations abroad.

Although it is highly unlikely that Congress will accede to Trump’s request, the proposed initiative will add to the criticism of the former President. In fact, this step merely served to annoy many diplomats and U.S. aid officials who viewed it as a senseless attempt to disrupt foreign aid programs just before the Trump administration ceded authority.

“These out-the-door funding cuts are a clear attempt by President Trump to inflict as much harm as possible before he leaves the White House,” said House Budget Chair, John Yarmuth.

Furthermore, with these proposals the Trump administration actually sought to undermine its own decision with the White House having previously approved US involvement with GAVI in an attempt to prove Washington’s commitment to fighting COVID-19. However, Trump then changed his mind and decided to withdraw the previously promised funding arguing that his administration could not contribute to the project which is co-led by the World Health Organization, an entity he claims is China-centric and whose involvement he has removed the US from.

This is not the first occasion on which Trump has changed his mind about previously made decisions on the matter and tried to cut funding for foreign aid. In 2018 his administration proposed the withdrawal of a $15.4 billion package of spending which was designed to finance children’s health insurance and public housing programs although this had already been legally committed to. The proposal was subsequently rejected by the Senate. Subsequently, in 2019, the White House tried to slash billions of aid but yet again this initiative did not meet with popularity in Congress.

In his last attempt to cut aid, Trump intended to pursue a so-called “rescission request” which would deprive support for millions of people from the poorest countries. His initiative proposed a cut of:

Trump, therefore, wanted to cut all funding that would support the poorest societies or strengthen efforts to curb global warming, policies he did not hold with. Commenting on his approach, Trump said “Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists and special interests while sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it.”